Process of marking umbrellas and the like.



6.006% I gvwau W. H. BEEHLER.

PROCESS OF MARKING UMB'RELLAS AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION 111501111151. 190a. RENEWED JUNE 7. 1915.

1,21 5,764. Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

P/ Q. A

WITNESSES UNITED s'rn'rns rnnnr FFIG.

WILLIAM HENRY BEEHLER, 0F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM IBEEHLER, INCORPORATED, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

PROCESS OF MARKING UMBRELLAS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed June 1, 1908, Serial No. 435,987. Renewed June 7, 1915. Serial No. 32,729.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM H. BEEHLER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Process of Marking Umbrellas and the like, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists in a novel method of placing upon umbrellas or parasols identifying marks such as the name or address, or both, of the owner, so that the umbrella may be easily identified and returned to the owner when lost. Various devices have been employed in the past for identifying umbrellas, but all of these known to me have disadvantages which my invention avoids.

My invention provides a method of applying an identification to the cover of the umbrella, where it is conspicuously displayed when the umbrella is in use. At the same time the identification as produced according to my method is practically permanent and as durable as the cover itself; is substantially invisible from one side of the cover, usually the outside; does not interfere with rolling in any respect, and is easily, quickly and cheaply applied. It is of the greatest importance in applying an identification to umbrellas on a commercial scale that the application may be made quickly and cheaply, because evidently the identification must be different for practically every umbrella sold, and in many cases is applied while the purchaser is waiting. Also, since a large proportion of umbrellas are sold at a low price and with a small margin of profit, the cost of identification must not appreciably increase the sale price or encroach upon the profit.

The method is such that the identifying matter may be applied to the cover after the umbrella is completely manufactured, and this is of course of great importance, because it enables the umbrella to be completed without regard to the identification marks, and then marked as desired, after the purchaser has made his selection, or in accordance with orders of whatever nature.

Briefly stated, the process consists, in its -nated by the purchaser.

ally black, and the embroidering is usually an embroidering machine such as the wellsimplest form, in first stitching in outline upon the finished cover of an open umbrella, the name or address (either or both) desig- The cover is usudone in a sharply contrasting color, such, for instance, as bright red. The embroidering is also usually done so as to be read from the inside of the umbrella. The reversed legend will then appear in a bright color upon the outside of the cover. To prevent this from being noticeable, as a second step in the process, coloring matter is then applied to the outside or reverse of the embroidered outline, this coloring matter usually being black, to agree with the color of the cover. The design is thus substantially obliterated so far as the outside aspect is concerned,

while it remains sharply-prominent on the obverse or inside, to such an extent that when the umbrella is opened by anyone other than the ownerhe is strongly impelled to return the umbrella to its owner.

The identification is usually applied to umbrellas on a commercial scale by using known Bonnaz machine, and operators of this machine soon become skilled so that they can easily, quickly and cheaply manipulate the open umbrella, and at the same time direct the machine to apply the desired outline characters to the cover, and the identified umbrella can thus be delivered to cus tomers without objectionable delay or increase in cost, or, on the other hand, decrease in profit. The identification so applied is permanent, usually for the life of the our brella; it is prominentlyvisible from the inside and unnoticeab'le from theoutside; it

is as flexible as the cover and does not 1nterfere with rolling; it avoids the clumsiness and other objections of a complete marking label of whatever material atcover would be applied to the inner or obverse side of the outline to make that side distinctly prominent. This would in many cases be difficult to accomplish in the case of a black umbrella because of the difficulty of satisfactorily coloring black thread. 7

As an aid in applying the color in some cases, a piece of fabric such, for instance, as a piece of paper, may be laid upon one side, usually the outside, of the umbrella cover while the outline is being stitched thereon. The color may then be applied over this protecting fabric, and in some cases the application of the color may be expedited because of the less care required upon the part of the operator. After the color is applied, the protecting fabric is removed.

In some cases a pattern may be traced upon a fabric, such as paper, and laid upon this cover, and this pattern may be followed in stitching the outline. This method would be useful, for instance,'when it is desired to copy the autograph signature of the purchaser. In some cases also a single applied fabric, such as paper, may serve as a pattern and also as a protecting device for use in coloring. For example, the pattern may be traced upon thin paper and then may be placed on the outside of the umbrella cover in reversed position, and the embroidering done with the outside of the umbrella cover upward. This requires that the outline be embroidered in reversed or mirror writing. The color may then be applied over the combined protecting paper and pattern, and the paper then removed. The design will then be substantially invisible from the outside of the umbrella, but will appear right side up and in proper form in contrasting color on the inside of the cover. Or in some cases, papers may be applied to both the inside and outside of the cover, and in this case one of the papers would be a pattern and the other would be a protecting device for the coloring operation.

The accompanying drawing shows diagrammatically cert-ain of the steps in the process.

Figure 1 is a view of a pattern, usually of paper, with a design thereon.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an umbrella showing the pattern secured to the inside of the cover.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of an umbrella showing the outside of the cover with the design embroidered through it.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 2, showing the inside of the cover with the design embroidered through it and colored.

Figs. 3 and A show a name applied to an umbrella cover according to my process. According to the simplest method the outline is stitched upon the completed, attached umbrella cover, holding the inside of the cover upward, so that the outline may be stitched right side up. The stitching is done, supposing the cover is black, in a thread of a brightly contrasting color. The outside of the outline deslgn is then gone over with black coloring matter of suitable ingredients and a consistency, to substantially obliterate the reverse of the design. Fig. 3 shows, as well as may be done in the drawing, the outside of the umbrella cover after the coloring has been applied.

Fig. 1 shows a piece of protecting fabric which may be applied to the cover as in Fig. 2, and the stitching then done through the cover and fabric. The fabric may be a protecting device for the coloring operation, as already described, or it may be simply a pattern, or it may serve both as a protecting device and a pattern, as in Figs. 1 and 2.

Various eXpedients may be devised for quickly and easily removing the protecting fabric, when it is used, after it has served its purpose in the process, and operators become very skilful in performing this step of the process, but it is considered unnecessary to further describe this detail.

It will be understood that where colors are mentioned in the foregoing they are cited as examples only, to show the principles of the invention, and that variations in color may be made at will, according to the principles elucidated.

I claim:

1. A process, consisting in applying a pattern bearing a design to a fabric, embroidering the design through the pattern and fabric, and then coloring one side of the design.

2. A process, consisting in placing a design upon a pattern, attaching the pattern to an article to be embroidered, stitching the design through the pattern and article, and applying color to one side of the embroid- .ercd design.

3. -A process, consisting in placing a design upon a pattern, attaching the pattern to an article to be embroidered, stitching the design through the pattern and article, and then applying color to the pattern-side of the design before removing the pattern.

f. A process, consisting in applying a piece of paper to a fabric, embroidering through the paper and fabric and then applying color to the paper side of the em broidered design.

5. A process, consisting in applying a piece of paper to a fabric, embroidering through the paper and fabric, applying coloring to the paper side of the embroidered design, and then removing the paper.

6. The process of applying an identification to an umbrella or the like, consisting in plying color to the reverse side of the em- Witnesses:

embroidering outline upon the completed, cover while the obverse side of the design apattached cover of an open umbrella, in pears in sharp contrast to the cover.

thread contrasting With the color of said cover, identifying characters, and then ap- HENRY B broidered outline to make said reverse side ROBERT H. GERBIG, substantially indistinguishable from the WILLIAM B. LEVY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

